where in Houston is Rice?

I will be in Houston in March for a brief stay to tour Rice University with my son. What would be a convenient location to stay for this visit?

where in Houston is Rice?

Rice Uni is between the Rice Village and medical center, here is a map (rice village is between kirby and greenbriar and the uni is from there on before the medical center area) :

ricevillageonline.com/maps/houston_area.php

U can easily stay at the Galleria neighborhood, only minutes to the uni or stay in the medical area which has a marriott or at the museum district (next to medical area) is hotel zaza (which was the warwick before the name changed and renovation, it did need some updating and now it is quite nice !!!).

Good Luck

PS. there are also a few choices in West U for lodging

where in Houston is Rice?

My recommendation would be to stay in the Galleria area as there are more things to do in the evening. I%26#39;m assuming you%26#39;ll have a car while you%26#39;re in Houston as that%26#39;s pretty much the only way to get around most of the city.

If you don%26#39;t have a car and pretty much just want to spend time at Rice U then you might want to consider staying at the hotel Zaza (used to be called the Warwick), it%26#39;s within walking distance to Rice U and to the museums (MFA, HMNS, etc.) and right on the light-rail line connecting downtown Houston and the Medical Center.

I wouldn%26#39;t recommend staying in the Medical Center per se as the hotels are a bit dodgier...

Hmmm... well, I don%26#39;t know about the neighborhood anymore, but if it were me I%26#39;d stay in the Marriott or Hilton or some other nicer hotel in the medical center area. Just my opinion. Reason being... depending on what your son is doing (interviewing? sitting in on a class? speaking with professors?) you may find it convenient to have a hotel room within very short walking distance.

If you look at the Rice Campus Map:

http://www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html

you%26#39;ll see that visitor parking isn%26#39;t necessarily more convenient than walking across Main Street.

It seems to me that I have stayed in a hotel right across from entrance #4 by Sid Rich (Richardson) College but maybe I%26#39;m wrong about that. Things have a way of changing, and it%26#39;s been probably a good 12 years or so.

If you stay in areas farther away like the Galleria or downtown, you%26#39;ll lose a lot of the ';within the hedges'; feel about Rice... it%26#39;s a little world unto itself, with the Village and the Galleria accessible but not a daily part of life.

Good luck!! I hope your trip won%26#39;t coincide with Rice%26#39;s spring break!?

I found this link for you:

http://explore.rice.edu/explore/Hotel.asp

(hope that works... if not, Google rice university hotels)

Apparently I%26#39;m not remembering correctly. My dad used to stay at The Warwick (now Hotel ZaZa) when he%26#39;d be in town visiting me (back in my Rice days) and I just don%26#39;t remember it being ';close';. Perhaps that%26#39;s because I never walked... those were some busy streets! It was always a drive, and with all of the one way streets it just didn%26#39;t seem all that easy. When my hubby interviewed in the medical center in 1994, we stayed in *some hotel* right across Main from Rice and I walked from the hotel through the entrance by either Sid Rich or Lovett College. I%26#39;m so frustrated that I can%26#39;t remember the hotel or that it%26#39;s not there anymore. It may have been on Fannin and for some reason I think it was a Holiday Inn. So just for my sanity, can any old timers confirm that something fitting that description ever existed? LOL

At any rate, the above link also mentions hotels that offer discounts for Rice visitors. I%26#39;m wondering if the distances they quote from those hotels are from the hotel to the Main Entrance, because that%26#39;s not really right. You don%26#39;t need to walk all the way to the Main Entrance.

As another Rice Alumn, let me say that to get a real feel for the campus its far better to pick up a hotel near to campus (Medical Center really). The Galleria is very nice and there is lots to do when you%26#39;re there, but I can say in my 4 years at Rice I went to the Galleria very rarely - there was just much more intrest in staying on campus.

Best of luck to your son on his visit/interview!

My daughter has an audition at Sheppard School of Music (Rice University) on March 2. If you go to the Rice website there were a number of hotels listed with special Rice University rates, you just need to tell them you are visiting Rice for that special rate. They list the contact 3s for the Hotels %26amp; the distance from Rice.

We are staying at the Best Western Inn- Medical Center for $90.47 per night.

Good luck!

Marty

BigBadFisher -

I completely agree with what you said about the Galleria, but it%26#39;s been awhile since I was a student (that would be the ';84'; part of my screenname) there so I thought maybe things had changed. Heck, I just about fell over when I saw a Gap in the Village! TRGs must definitely be different now. LOL. No more overalls?

In the four years I was at Rice, I went to the Galleria maybe about six times. And I had a car, which I drove maybe twice a week. So that%26#39;s why I%26#39;ve been suggesting the OP stay in the medical center; you get a much better feel for the ';Rice Community'; and the campus atmosphere if you forego the driving during the visit.

having been a West U resident for 5 years, i was a frequent visitor to the rice village and around Rice U for the nice running paths as well as of course, to the medical center area for check ups (with 2 kids, even more trips !). I have never once thought it a dodgy place !

Mind u, this is a very big area and if u go as far as Old Spanish trail then yes I agree the neighborhood starts to do down from there but anything near the Rice U are all of good standing and repute !